About Me

102 former Malaysian Hockey Internationals joined together to support an open letter to the relevant parties, who can make a difference to the status of hockey in Malaysia.
This was done in view of the dismal performance of the various national teams at all levels.
It is the hope of these former internationals that the slump in international performance be arrested and that Malaysian hockey can rebuilt again to a world class status.
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Contact:
formerhockeyinternationals@gmail.com

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Journey started with an open letter and a signature campaign dated 23rd July 2008.

Three meetings were held with YB Minister of Youth and Sports including the full presentation on 22nd October 2008 at Parliament.

As the tenure of "102" former hockey internationals had ended with the submission and presentation of the proposal, we believe that the document should be accessible to everyone who loves hockey and supports Malaysian hockey.

Friday, October 31, 2008

On 22nd October 2008 at 11.00am in Parliament at AJK Room No. 2, there was formal Presentation of the Proposal by “102” Former Hockey Internationals.

Although the Proposal is 99 pages the presentation covered approximately 58 pages and took nearly an hour.

In attendance with the YB Minister were the Chairman of SAP and the DG of NSC. There were other officers from KBS and NSC. The “102” were represented by 10 of them.

The main Presentation was done by Mike (Maninderjit Singh) and Mirnawan Nawawi. The introduction and closing was the specialty of K Enbaraj.

The Minister was fascinated with the “Road Map for Hockey” comprising of the Game & Administration with the relevant elements. Indeed the Minister recognises that the “Road Map” could be utilized for other team sports.The fundamentals of "The right person in the right position" and "The road to excellence" caught the Minister's attention.

The key aspect of the Presentation were the bold “Recommendation” which relates to:¨ Affiliates¨ Office Bearers¨ Strategic Planning

It was emphasized if we get these 3 absolutely ,the game of hockey would have a rock solid foundation.

In principle the Proposal recommends an “Open Door” policy for affiliation with certain criteria of entry and sustaining the membership.

It also comes with an innovative idea of requesting for “Tax Breaks” in the form of “double deduction” for sporting expenditure as the means to attract corporate organizations to participate and become an Affiliate.

On top of it, it recommends that MHF shall solicit for a “Charitable Status” making it easier to obtain donations.

The aspect of Office Bearers, seem to infuse a quality control process of qualification and experience in hockey to permit participation in MHF election.

The proposal embodies an Election Vetting Committee to pre-qualify the candidates.

In the Master Plan it details “The Vision” and “The Mission” and Targets for a period of 8 years. The existence of the Master Plan presupposes the requirement of Policies and Standard Operating Procedures, which are essential for good governance.

Budgeting is brought into the forefront to confront the prevailing weakness and to create the principles of transparency and accountability.

Marketing and Business Units are recommended to be created to encourage the game of hockey and to permit MHF to become financially independent.

The 3 key strategy elements of Affiliates, Office Bearers and Strategic Planning were utilized in areas of Coaches, Development and Database and reflected the very success if it is implemented..

Finally, in the “The Way Forward” the Proposal recognizes the “Recommendations” require a major structural change i.e. constitutional amendment. It realizes this is not easy and has suggested the following approach: -

¨ Main Intervention Strategy (MIS)To allow MHF to rehabilitate itself within a time frame but report to the “Task Force” that is to be set-up by the “relevant parties”.

¨ Alternate Intervention Strategy (AIS)If MHF chooses not to adopt a self-regulatory process then the Sports Act comes into play, where a Special Committee takes over MHF by suspending it first.

This drastic measure must be made known to FIH and the Special Committee revamps MHF and hands it back to the Affiliates including the new members.

Such actions are only possible if KBS, NSC and OCM referred to as “relevant parties” get together and decide that it is better for the future of hockey.

When the Presentation concluded, the Minister was thoroughly impressed and his questions were mainly related to Sukan Teras and ISN.

At the end of the Presentation, the Minister had a press conference and attached is the Bernama’s report of it.

With this “102” Former Hockey Internationals role and involvement in Malaysian hockey has officially ended.Bernama's Report.

Proposal By 102 Ex-Internationals To Be Handed Over To MHF

LUMPUR, Oct 22 (Bernama) -- A proposal on how to reform Malaysian hockey, submitted by 102 former national hockey players, would be handed over to the new Malaysian Hockey Federation (MHF) committee.

Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Ismail Sabri Yaakob said the 99-page proposal submitted by the group contained a comprehensive and in-depth analysis of how to improve and develop hockey in the country.

"Apart from hockey, the Ministry also welcomes similar initiatives from former athletes of other sports," said Ismail Sabri after listening to a detailed briefing by the groups representatives Maninderjit Singh and Mirnawan Nawawi here Wednesday.

The MHF are expected to hold their Annual General Meeting cum election for office bearers on Nov 1.

Ismail Sabri said the groups proposal had two sections, one detailing the game of hockey and the other touched on the administration of hockey at national and state level.

Meanwhile, National Sports Council (NSC) Director-General Datuk Zolkples Embong said among proposals submitted by the group was to set up a data bank of national players for easy reference by coaches.

"The group has also outlined short term and long term plans aimed at qualifying for the World Cup and Olympics within five years," said Zolkples.

Last month, a group of 102 former national players, managers and coaches had raised concern over the poor state of hockey in the country and urged the Minister to intervene.

The group later submitted a memorandum to Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak who is also the chairman of the Cabinet Committee for Sports, Ismail Sabri, Zolkples, Olympic Council of Malaysia President Tan Sri Tunku Imran Tuanku Ja'afar and Sports Advisory Panel chairman Datuk Wira Mazlan Ahmad.

Malaysia, ranked fourth in the world in 1975 and now ranked 15th, had failed to qualify for the 2004 Athens Olympics, 2006 World Cup and 2008 Beijing Olympics.-- BERNAMA

Thursday, October 30, 2008

The full Presentation to YB Minister on 9th October was postponed at the 11th hour as the Minister had to attend a function. Notwithstanding this the Minister still wanted a copy of the Proposal, so as he could study it before the full Presentation that is to be scheduled to another date.

2 copies of the 99 page Proposal was handed over to the YB Minister of Sports at Parliament on 15th October.Present with the Minister were the Chairman of SAP and the Director General of NSC. The Minister seem impressed with the Proposal but wanted sometime to review it.

4 former hockey internationals namely Mike (Maninderjit Singh), Mirnawan Nawawi, K Enbaraj and Azlin were present on behalf of the "102 "Former Hockey Internationals. Also in hand was Murali Elangovan, the person who designed the whole booklet.

The Minister was also informed that the tenure of the "102" Former Hockey Internationals had come to an end with the submission of the Proposal.

Friday, August 22, 2008

On Wednesday 13th.August, we posted the "Framework and Guidelines" for your submission which would be collated and encompassed as a submission to the YB Minister. The dateline set was 22nd.August and the day has arrived. All those who have yet to submit kindly do so, as technically today is the last day.

As today is Friday and the collation work commences on Monday, you could still use the weekend to post your views through the official e-mail. We would appreciate if you can find the time to assists Malaysian Hockey with your ideas, so as Malaysia can yet again be in the forefront of World hockey.

Thursday, August 14, 2008

YB Datuk Ismail Sabri, the Minister of Youth and Sports acted in great speed to meet the Representatives of the 102 former hockey internationals. In a 2 hour meeting on 4th.August, he too was concern where hockey is today compared to the past. He wanted honest opinions beyond what was documented in the open letter.

The 8 former internationals present in the meeting had frank exchanges with the YB Minister. Also present at the meeting was SAP Chairman YBhg Datuk Wira Mazlan Ahmad.

YB Minister in concluding the meeting wanted a proposal from the 102 former hockey internationals within a month. He is as interested as all of us that Malaysia should be a force in World Hockey.

Below is the various newspaper articles of the meeting:

Kindly "click"the pageto enlarge.

Now the hard work starts and everyone input is vital to the success of the PROPOSAL.

Yesterday, we posted a subject matter titled " Submission of Proposal to YB Minister - Framework and Guidelines" and we seek your co-operation that you use the blogspot e-mail: formerhockeyinternationals@gmail.comto submit your inputs as per the outlined framework.

Please do not use the "comment" column under each article as that is specifically related to the subject that was published. Further using the blogspot e-mail, permits us to acknowledge receipt and maintain confidentiality.

Below are 2 articles from the newspapers, of which one relates to the National Players Hockey Association's Presidents views and the other is that of the Chairman of the Sports Advisory Panel (SAP).

Some may question the wisdom of giving publicity to NPHA's President's view on the matter. The rationale being that the blog is taking a transparent view so as all the 102 former internationals are fully aware of what is happening. We are not expressing any views on the matter other than stating that the former internationals are intelligent enough to know what they are doing.

The 2nd article is from SAP's Chairman who takes the view that such an action by the 102 former internationals is something unprecedented. It is something that was never done before and it shows the interest and commitment of the former internationals.

Please "click" at page to enlarge.

There are other newspaper articles that shall be posted in due course.

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

One week after delivering to the respective recipients, Enbaraj and Azlin made available the Open Letter and the information of the signatories to the Press. The time gap was given so as it would not catch the recipients by surprise i.e they would have time to study the matter.

The principle is that all parties should get together to ensure that we get back as a force in World hockey. The Press on its part had provided a fair amount of publicity and below are some of the reports.

Yesterday we were troubled by posting problem of the "Signatory Forms". Although we did post a sample but the print was too small to be read. Today we found a way to solve it. Just follow the stated instruction ie "click" and you will get an enlarged version that could be easily viewed.

Monday, August 11, 2008

Having scanned the executed Signatory Forms and then removing the signatures for reasons of security, we are finding difficulty in loading an appropriate size on the blog. A sample is currently posted but it is near impossible to read the names.

The problem is being attended and we hope to sort it as soon as possible.

Friday, August 8, 2008

It is not easy to maintain a regular communication with the 102 former Malaysian Hockey Internationals and as such this blog has been created. This would update most of them and we hope in the process others would also get to know what is going on.

All letters were delivered to the respective recipients on 23th.July.2008 except for DYMM Sultan of Perak

Insofar as DYMM Sultan of Perak and the KSU of the Ministry, it was formally handing over the "open letter".

As for the YB Minister, he wanted to discuss the letter and seek the opinions of the former internationals. YB Minister requested a full presentation of what were the possible reasons for Malaysia's poor performance and what should be done to revitalise Malaysian hockey to world standards. The Minister wants this presentation in a month's time. Present at the meeting was also the Chairman of Sports Advisory Panel.

Early next week we shall be posting a note in the blog to the 102 former internationals seeking their assistance in the preparation of the presentation. Once we are able to put the draft presentation together, it is important that the former internationals meet and finalise the presentation. We hope others who want to provide their input are most welcome.

Ref: An Open Letter – “The Need for Urgent Revival of Malaysian Hockey”

On behalf of 102 former Malaysian Hockey Internationals, we enclose :-

· A 2-page Open Letter titled “The need for urgent revival of Malaysian Hockey”.· A copy of the 102 names and signatories of former Malaysian Hockey Internationals.· List of recipients of the Open Letter.

We organized a signature campaign among the former Malaysian Hockey Internationals and within 4 days, we obtained 102 signatures.

These 102 former Malaysian Hockey Internationals represent hockey players from the era of 1950s to 2000. In the 102, there are 37 Olympians and 29 World Cuppers. Among them are personalities from the age of 80 to 26, inclusive of 9 former National Coaches, 2 former National Team Managers, 10 former National Captains, 1 former World XI player and 10 former Asian All-Stars players.

The wealth of experience of these former internationals bring to the letter is a reflection of the genuine concern of the state of hockey today in Malaysia. The letter is an appeal to all relevant parties to do the needful to ensure that Malaysia is back in the forefront of world hockey.

"Reaching as far back as the 1950s, Malaysia has consistently had representation in Hockey for the Olympic Games, Asian Games as well as the World Cup. In those early days, despite the stark lack of infrastructure and resources, there were players and officials so committed to the cause that it more than made up for the deficiencies. Numbering among these individuals of caliber are such names as Sultan Azlan Shah, the late Tun Abdul Razak, the late Datuk Seri Aziz Durairatnam, Tan Sri P. Alagendra, the late Datuk Seri Dr Moreira, Datuk Vijayanathan, the late S. Satgunam, Zain Azahari, Tan Sri Noordin Hassan, Wilfred Vias, Mike Sheperdson, Lawrence Van Huizen, Datuk Ho Koh Chye, Datuk Yogeswaran, Yang Siow Meng, Titus Havelock, A. Francis, Sri Shanmuganathan, Datuk Poon Fook Loke, R. Ramakrishnan, Nor Saiful, and Mirnawan Nawawi. Naturally, there have been many others that worked from their hearts and souls and are just as responsible for keeping the Malaysian flag flying in the world arena of hockey.

For certain there were times when qualification to the World Cup or Olympics did not materialize, but even then the progress of the National Juniors always provided a ‘ray of hope’. Their achievements in keeping abreast with world hockey signified their readiness to don national colours and re-attain Malaysia’s status in international hockey.

Today, Malaysian hockey has at its disposal far better infrastructure, resources, as well as support from the Government. Yet despite the improvements, Malaysia’s position within international hockey has declined significantly at every level. All of the national teams, be they the Seniors, Juniors, or the Under-16’s, have performed at such steadily deteriorating standards that Malaysia is now placed outside the main artery of international hockey. To compound what can only be referred to as an unmitigated disaster in terms of decline, even at her current position, Malaysia is finding it a struggle to take on the ‘minnow’ nations of hockey.

It can be said that the situation has reached a critical level, where the future stars from various age groups may not provide the long established ‘chain of supply’ into the National Team. This folly has been instigated by the action of the Administrators of hockey who, in all their wisdom, have seen fit to abdicate the full responsibility of the Age Group tournaments and Champion School’s tournament. As such the grass-root development of hockey is left in limbo.

Adding further bricks to the wall, hockey is now caught up in a web of allegations both on and off the field. Despite the presence of a police investigation into these matters, the damage to the image of the sport has already been done.

With things as they stand, the future of Malaysian hockey is bleak however, not irreparably so. The sport itself stands at proverbial crossroads, where change is necessary in order to revive it from the slump it has suffered. Any improvement to the dire status quo can only be facilitated if we have a team of officials who not only love the game of hockey dearly, but also are prepared to sacrifice their time in commitment to the cause. This must be done in tandem with properly planned strategy in the intention of revitalizing hockey across all levels and installing the structure that can create world class players and officials.

This appeal from former Malaysian hockey internationals is done for the love of the country, and in the hope that the nation’s flag is always hoisted to fly proudly in the international hockey arena. To achieve this dream, first Malaysia must win back its representation in such tournaments.

Therefore, we humbly look to the Cabinet Committee on Sports, the National Sports Council, Malaysian Hockey Federation, and indeed, all the supporters of hockey, to intervene with the right people at the right positions, and ensure that the standard of hockey is returned to its former glory, so that some day it may even surpass it. It is a matter of national pride that Malaysia re-attain her position as one of the top teams in the world.